His enchanting voice has entertained audiences worldwide for over two decades now. Sonu Nigam, the voice behind some of the most popular songs like ‘piyu bole’ and “kal ho na ho’ made an appearance on the episode 4 of The Anupam Kher Show and left quite an impression on the audience with the story of his remarkable journey in Bollywood and how his father is the real reason behind where he is today in life. 

For those of you who missed the episode, here is a list of some of the things we learnt about Sonu Nigam from the show. 

Child Prodigy: He was merely four-years-old when he took up singing. Sonu Nigam along with father sang the song ‘kya hua tera wada’ live on stage. It has been 38 years ever since then and thinking about how adorable he must have sounded back then, we can’t help ourselves from feeling all gooey. Hmm…

Middle class background: Sonu Nigam comes from a middle class family and was born in Faridabad. Unlike other kids, Sonu Nigam was never demanding while growing up as he knew how simple and straight forward his parents were. Seeing how his parents taught him the simplicities of life, he wishes to teach his son the same values. What an incredible thought, we must say!

Struggle is essential: Sonu started off his singing career by performing at functions. It was only later on that he and his family moved to Mumbai to pursue his dream full time. The advice his father gave him during his earlier days, he treasures till date. His father once told him that he had two options, he could enjoy now and struggle later or struggle now and enjoy later. And obviously, Sonu chose the second option. The advice surely worked in his favour!

Sonu, the scientist: While growing up, Sonu wanted to become a scientist but because he didn’t like mugging up, he dropped the idea. Also, while he was going through puberty, his voice started to sound really hoarse and that made him feel that he couldn’t sing for a living. Just when he thought of quitting, his voice came back better and finer than before. 

His singing icons: Sonu looks up to Mohammed Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar. Sonu loves Rafi sahab for his versatility and Lataji for her kind demeanor. The best has certainly learnt the best from the industry, it seems!

Sonu Nigam, the actor: Not only Sonu has sung songs for films but also acted in some of them. Sonu Nigam debuted as a child star in Betaab when he just in second standard. Apart from Betaab, he has also worked in movies like Kaamchor and Love in Nepal. 

A simpleton at heart: Sonu Nigam is very simple at heart. He believes that a person’s grounding is what makes his character and for people to succeed in life they have to learn to be malleable. An advice that Sonu has to give to all the people who are struggling is that only those people survive longer who make a good impression while they are at the highest point in life.  A great advice that is certainly worth taking note of!

Protective parents: Sonu Nigam’s parents have been extremely protective about him. They didn’t allow him to do live shows in Mumbai in his hey days as they felt that he might get distracted if he ended up having an affair at that point in his life. Sonu, surely is an obedient son!

Great at mimicry: Sonu Nigam has a really versatile voice. He has not only dabbled in singing but also given voice over s for many animated films. Sonu is a real good mimic and can practically imitate anyone including a woman. Sonu singing like a woman was definitely a shocker!

Sonu Nigam’s rise to fame: Sonu Nigam’s rise to fame didn’t happen overnight. He started off with singing for music videos , his first song being ‘accha sila diya’, and then he hosted  a music show and it was much later that he delved into hard core Bollywood playback singing. His journey has been a tough one filled with several stepping stones. Hats off to the jubliant singer!